Workshop Package- $400

Step 1: Pre-Screen and Interview with Dog/Hander Teams

Are you curious to see if you and your dog are suitable to be a PTDC team? A PTDC team member will meet with you and your dog one-on-one to assess your strengths as a team, review the environment(s) in which you intend to work, learn about the Handling Skills Test, and make recommendations on areas of improvement. We are looking for dogs to be reliable, predictable, controllable, affiliative, tolerant, confident, and able to work in potentially stressful conditions. 

Step 2: Two-Day Educational Workshop and 160-page PTDC Manual

Join PTDC team members to learn about:

• Experiential interventions
• Therapeutic environment 
• Risks and benefits 
• Canine stress signals
• Handling skills and testing
• Ethics and practice standards
• Policies and procedures
• Intake and assessment
• Exclusionary criteria
• Cultural considerations
• Clinical documentation 
• DSM-specific interventions 
• Group curriculum
• Evidenced based practices
• Animal abuse and the LINK 

Step 3: Handling Skills Test and Registration

 Dog/handler teams will take the Handling Skills Test one-on-one with a PTDC team member. Dog/handler teams have three attempts to successfully pass each item on the Handling Skills Test in order to become registered with PTDC. PTDC requires a copy of your dog’s current vaccination records prior to testing. Once a dog/handler team passes, they are given a certificate which is good for two years. Dog/handler teams will have to re-certify (Handling Skills Test only) every two years for a fee of $75.